1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates generally to cooling systems, and more particularly to use of liquid coolants with respect to electronic components.
2. Description of the Related Art
Previous systems have refrained from using pumped coolant systems at the server, on-board, or chip level because of the concerns of providing liquid cooling system in proximity with the electronic components of computer systems. The current air cooling systems are inadequate to meet the higher cooling demands of densely stacked electronic racks found in densely populated electronic rack enclosures.
Existing connectors have relied upon pressurized metal pipes and corrugated hose with standard, no-spill quick connects. These pipes are not flexible, and this lack of flexibility has limited plumbing options. Additionally, these corrugated hoses are expensive and rigid in design. The quick connects are bulky for their rated flow rate and have a pressure drop that is detrimental to capacity and temperature performance. These limitations have forced users to be relegated to using circulated water as the cooling medium, as the water systems have been able to accommodate simpler connections and plumbing lines.
Therefore, a need exists for a connector that overcomes the limitations normally encountered in circulating coolant in a flexibly configured plumbing system by addressing each of the performance bottlenecks or limitations of existing designs. A need also exists to provide a method of pumping coolant at the server, on-board, or chip level via a simple connection means.
Moreover, the routing of coolants including refrigerant and water has been costly and complicated in the prior art. These systems have not offered the flexibility of channeling coolant flow to a plurality of servers. Therefore, a need exists to provide a method of pumping coolants in a more efficient manner that allows for greater flexibility and simplicity to be incorporated into a scaled cooling system.